


Tales from Thedas: Origins

by NekoNomi



Series: Tales From Thedas [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Does not occur in chronological order, F/F, F/M, Headcanon, M/M, Multiple Wardens, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-15 13:29:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2230788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoNomi/pseuds/NekoNomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A pair of mages with some powerful secrets, a nobleman with a quest for vengeance and a dalish hunter who really does not want to be part of this. A templar with some interesting secrets of his own, a witch of the wilds, a bard sent by the maker himself, a senior enchanter with unshakable faith, a qunari with nothing left to loose, a golem with an attitude problem, a dwarf looking at life from the bottom of a bottle and the assassin sent to kill them all...</p><p>Ferelden will never know what hit it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Origin: Magi

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write the story of my warden and her fellows as they travel across Ferelden, killing darkspawn, righting wrongs and seeking an end to the blight. Unfortunately, doing justice to such a tale would result in a grad sweeping saga of epic proportions, which I'm simply not up for writing. So instead you get this, short (and sometimes not so short) glimpses into the lives of the wardens and their companions as they fight, live, love and generally try to survive in a world which is coming down around their ears.

In the end, neither of them was able to pinpoint at what moment things had started to go wrong. Amell and Surana could both agree however that helping Jowen and Lily definitely had not been one of their better days.

\-------------

In the cloistered world of the Circle of Magi, humans and elves can live as equals. Mages, no matter what their race, are equally feared and equally controlled by the templars. Neria Surana had never known any world but that of the circle tower, thick stone walls and barred windows and a constant cold wind coming off Lake Calenhad. She had vague, dream-like memories of elaborately decorated wagons and great white beasts with intricately twisting horns. Whether they were truth of not, she did not know. Despite that, those images were ones of comfort to her, a scene which she would often visit in her dreams when she felt the need for an inviolably safe place.

Solona Amell, on the other hand, knew exactly where she had come from. Nobility of the city of Kirkwall in the Freemarches, magic was known to run in the Amell line. It had surprised few of her family when the templars had identified her at the age of ten. In truth, the only surprising thing had been that she had not shown signs of the magic which ran through the very marrow of her being before that age. She had known what it was to have family and friends, had known the world outside the tower and adjusting to the restrictions of the life of a circle mage had been difficult for her.

The friendship between the human and the elf had grown naturally, a bonding of children with common interests and common enemies. Neria had a natural talent for primal magics and an uncanny skill for healing. Solona didn't have the same instinctive grasp of healing, but overall her abilities within the creation school of magic were greater, combined with a talent for spirit magic which the elven girl lacked. Together they were a formidable team, and one which was very difficult to separate. To the minds of many mages, they were one and the same, for where one of the pair went, the other was sure to be nearby.

Of course, there were some areas upon which the pair disagreed. Solona did not have the best opinion of Templars, while Neria had only ever known Knight-Commander Geagoir, a man who was strict, but fair minded in his dealing with the mages under his care, and rather kind under the gruff exterior. Solona espoused the idea that Mages should fraternize only with mages, while Neria's crush on the templar Cullen was well known among the other mages, as was Cullen's crush on her.

\-------------

When the templars came to pull her from her bed, Neria had known that it was coming. They had taken Solona two nights before and she had been one of those fortunate enough to return. Not everyone did, after all. No-one knew what the harrowing entailed, the rules which governed the ritual strong enough that even Solona had not shared what occurred with those she was closest too, beyond to say that it was a deeply personal experience and that it would surely come for them soon enough. Neria had taken the statement in stride but Jowen, who was several years older than either of them, had been more vocal about needing to know what happened. In a way, it was understandable. At twenty, Solona was at the upper end of what was considered the usual age range for an apprentice to be taken. At eighteen, Neria was right around the correct age. At nearly twenty four, Jowen was worryingly old for a mage to have remained an apprentice.

When they put her before the lyrium, a flash of strawberry blond hair caught the elf's gaze. Cullen was here. Oddly, that put her at ease, to know that her friend was here to watch over her as she walked the fade. With a glance to the side, she favored the human with a small smile, before she took her place in the ritual which would decide her fate.

\-------------

Neria came-to with a groan, a familiar voice speaking to her. Opening her eyes, she looked up into a human face surrounded by a flop of permanently messy brown hair. Before she could say anything, the man was pushed aside and replaced by an equally familiar and far more welcomed face. "So, you're one of us now" Solana said, tucking a strand of blond hair back behind her ear. "One of you, you mean" Jowen said sullenly, "They still having taken me for my Harrowing, in case you've forgotten". "It's hard to forget when you're constantly going on about it" Solana sniped back.

Ignoring the familiar sound of their bickering, Neria shifted to sit up. She didn't feel any different than she had yesterday, but everything had changed. She was a Harrowed Mage now, a full member of the Ferelden Circle of Magi. "It's too bad Wynn couldn't be here to see this" Solana told her. Where the human woman had always been favored by the First Enchanter, to the point of being his official chosen apprentice, Neria, with her talent for healing magic, had been one of two apprentices who had been specifically tutored by the woman who was acknowledged as one of the greatest healer-magi to ever come out of the circles. "She goes where she's needed" For the first time since waking, Neria spoke, her voice slightly rough from the difficult night she'd had "I already know she's proud of me. She told me so before she left" The threat of a potential new blight had been enough to bring the dedicated senior enchanter to leave her yet un-harrowed apprentice in the care of the first enchanter so that she might join the army and put her skills to their best use.

"So..." Neria looked between the pair of humans who were her best friends, not sure what to say next. "Irving wants to see you" Jowen said "He sent me to wake you up". "And I'm here to make sure you go to breakfast afterwards" Solona said "And don't go mooning off after a certain red-headed templar whose been loitering around the halls ever since they brought you back" There was a teasing lilt to the woman's tone. Solana might not like most templars, but as far as templars went, she was forced to admit that Ser Cullen was a decent one.

\-------------

Right from the start, Solana hadn't liked Lily. There was something about the chantry sister which rubbed her the wrong way, rubbed off-tones along her nerves. Jowen hadn't seen it, blinded by desire, and Neria always wanted to believe the best in others. Solana though, she considered herself to be a realist. Something about this whole thing seemed off to her and she watched the unfolding events with suspicious eyes, quietly reporting back to the First Enchanter. Irving had watched over her since she was just a child, freshly taken from her family. He was more of a father figure to her than her own father, a man who had become lost to the depths of time and memory. It was natural for her to report her suspicions to him and, while she didn't have the same suspicious mentality which Solana had, Neria had agreed that someone needed to be told of Jowen's plan. It hurt to do this to their friend, but neither saw him as having left them any real choice in the matter. This was not like Anders and his many escape attempts. Jowen had involved others, several others now, and his plans were dangerous to all of them.

\-------------

When the final confrontation occurred, just as Jowen lead them out of the basement archives, his phylactery destroyed, it felt as though everyone who was anyone within the tower was there to see. In a way it was true. Though the party was small, it contained the First Enchanter, the Knight-Commander, a visiting Grey Warden and even Ser Cullen. No-one had been expecting Jowen's final betrayal, the revelation of his lies as he used a knife to slice open his hand, using the spilled blood to power magics he would never have been able to cast before. It threw all of them back, and before they could get to their senses, he was gone.

The young mages ignored Lily's outburst, Solana holding Neria as the shock set in, running one hand down her long red hair. "He promised" Neria whispered to her. "I know" Solana said, "I know" She didn't know why Jowen had turned to the forbidden magics, could offer to explanation, and had no way of returning the innocence of the younger woman which the man had shattered. Neria had always been the sensitive one, compassionate and empathetic, where Solana had always been prickly and all to willing to speak her mind.

\-------------

"Cullen..." Neria looked to the young templar who escorted her as she collected her things. Duncan's conscription might have saved her from a potential fate as an inmate in the mages prison, but it would take her away from all that she had ever known. Away from the human who stood beside her. "Neria..." He looked as lost as she felt, both them lost in a storm not of their own making. A sharp call came from the hall, another templar reminding them that they didn't have long before Duncan would be leaving.

Putting away the last of her things in the pack, the few possessions which genuinely belonged to her rather than being borrowed from the tower, Neria found one last small item. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized it. A necklace with stone carved into the shape of a blade, the hilt carved into a pattern of an endless knot. Cullen had given it to her on her last name-day, blushing and stumbling over his words. Silently she pulled it on, letting it hang over her clothing. Next to it she found what she had planned to give to him in return, a deep blue stone held in a cage of twisted metal, the stands protecting the stone from harm even as they allowed it's colour to shine through.

Standing and shouldering her pack, she turned to the man who meant so much to her. She saw the way his eyes caught on the pendant which now hung around her neck. Reaching out she took his hand, and set her gift to him in his palm, gently folding the metal encased fingers around it. Though she had to stretch up to do so, Neria pressed a very soft kiss to the man's lips, the first she had ever given anyone.

Another call came from the hallway and Neria could not find the words to tell Cullen what he meant to her, nor the time to find them. She only hoped that he would remember her the way that she would remember him.


	2. Origin: Human Noble

Aedan's first meeting with Duncan and his wardens was a brief one. The dark skinned man with his very impressive beard had been a jovial guest, clearly comfortable in the company he was keeping. The women behind him were clearly less used to such things, with the blond human woman watching everyone through narrowed eyes, while the delicate looking elf had an expression of curiosity as she looked around the great hall. Neither were quite what the young nobleman had expected of a warden. Duncan was a clear warrior, but this pair had the pale skins of someone who had not seen a great deal of sunlight. He let his eyes linger for a moment on the elf's curved build, before turning his attention fully upon the conversation which was being had.

He still wished he could go with his father and brother when they set out for Ostagar. His mother was perfectly capable of managing the teyrnir on her own. Which was not to say that he did not understand the reasoning behind his remaining at the castle. Should his father and brother die during the fighting in the south, someone needed to remain to take over the ruling of Highever. Yes, there was Oren, but he was just a child, not barely old enough to learn a weapon, let alone be left to rule a teyrnir. Though Orianna, Fergus' Antivan wife, seemed to have some odd ideas about the boys learning. At his age Aedan had been picking up his first sword, and Fergus had been the same. But Orianna did not want the lad learning to fight yet. Aedan thought such an idea silly, but he bowed to the will of his mother in domestic matters and she had decided to humor Orianna's Antivan upbringing by leaving his nephew be for now. Though Aedan suspected that next year might be a different situation with regards to the child's training.

\------------------

Seeing Nan was always an interesting excursion. The woman was a fixture around the castle, having been first Fergus' nanny and then Aedan's own and now the castle cook. Though Aedan had long since outgrown the need to have someone watching over him when his mother could not, the respect for her word had not waned one bit. Nan's word had once been the law which ruled the nursery and listening to what she had to say was ingrained survival instinct at this point.

He had to admit, Killian did seem to enjoy bothering Nan far more than any of the other people of the castle. Perhaps because he knew that under the scolding tongue lay a woman who wasn't as cross as she made herself out to be. Nan had a lot of opinions which Aedan didn't agree with, but mother had taught him to respect other peoples opinions, even when he didn't agree with them. of course, father had taught him to stand up for what he thought was right and there had been more than a few clashes of personality with other people over the years thanks to that.

\------------------

“Giant rats? It's like the start of every bad adventure tale my grandfather used to tell.” Ser Gilmore rubbed his arm against his forehead, the leather smearing the blood which had flecked his face during the fight. "Just as long as we don't have to do the dramatic jumping off a cliff thing I think we'll be fine" Aedan joked, watching Killian scoop up the last rat and shake it. 

"Your Mabari must have chased them in through their holes" The red-headed knight sheathed his blade, while Aedan picked up a scrap cloth to clean off his own before doing the same. "Rats that big, they must have come up from the Korcari wilds." Aedan frowned at that statement, "What are Korcari rats doing this far north". It was a rhetorical question and Ser Gilmore simply shrugged in response. He didn't know and clearly he did not care. Which Aedan supposed was fair enough, the other man would be the one in charge of what few guards would remain once Fergus and his father left for the fighting in the south. That was plenty of weight to put upon a man's shoulders, never mind one who was only a few years older than Aedan himself.

Something about the Korcari rats troubled Aedan, even as he gestured for his hound to drop the rat so that they could leave the the larder. The last thing he needed was the Mabari parading his new chew-toy around in-front of Orianna and Oren. The first would shriek with dismay and the second would likely try to play with the thing, which would only make Orianna even more horrified.

However he did not have the time right now to dwell upon that puzzle. He still needed to figure out where Fergus had hidden himself so that he could pass on their father's message that he needed to head south now.

\------------------

Aedan had been pleasantly surprised when his flirtations with Iona had been not only noticed, but reciprocated. A pretty elf like her, he had been half sure that she would have a suitor back home. Yet she had responded to him, and then responded very well again when he had her in bed. Better yet had been the simple fact that she had remained with him, quietly talking once they had worn themselves out. He learned much of her, and was happy to respond to questions about himself.

It felt as though they had only just fallen asleep when crashing sounds outside the door and Killian's barking awoke them. Aedan felt Iona slip from the bed, the man pushing himself up onto his elbows to watch her trying to calm the mabari. Killian had been well trained and didn't nip like another dog might have, but he whined and continued to bark, clearly upset by something.

There was a pounding on the door and Iona reached for the handle. A bad feeling swept over Aedan. "Iona, do-" He didn't have time to finish. The door was pushed open, hitting Killian heavily and sending the Mabari skidding over the stone of the floor. Arrows sprouted in Iona's torso, the woman falling to the ground.

Aedan might have been the younger son, but he had seen human combat, long months spent hunting bandits who were preying on the common people of Highever, as well as hunting beasts. Slipping from the bed, his hand gripping the dagger he always kept close by, he fell upon the men who had killed Iona, Killian getting to his feet and joining the fray. When the first few were dead, he had the breathing room to pull on his leathers and snatch up his sword and shield. 

He came around his door to find more men in the outer hallway, attempting to break down the door to his parents room. He and Killian make short work of them, though the last were slain by the brightly fletched arrows that his mother had always favored for competition archery. Aedan turned to see her in the doorway, twin daggers on her hips and a longbow in her hands.

\------------------

In the larder, with the family sword hanging heavy at his side and the ash and blood so mingled upon his skin that he was not sure if he could see his own flesh any more, Aedan found himself unable to do anything but watch as his father's lifeblood slowly left him. There were tears in his mother's eyes and he could not remember the last time he saw her cry. Father was trying to convince them to leave without him, but Aedan found himself struggling to follow the conversation. No fight with bandits, no matter how fierce, could possibly have prepared him for this. The castle was on fire, Howe's men swarming like ants, killing everyone they came across and the things which had been done to some of them...

Heavy footsteps announced a newcomer and Aedan turned to face them, lifting his shield. He lowered it again when the sounds proved to herald, not more of Howe's soldiers, but Duncan and one of his recruits. Both were splashed with red and Duncan's swords were drawn. Yet it was the girl who produced a flicker of fear within Aedan. For her hands glowed in the manner of a mage and he could not help but be wary of the evidence of something he had been taught to watch out for.

The elven girl went straight for his father, and it took his mother's hand on his shoulder to make Aedan back down enough to let her through. He watched her, only half paying attention to the conversation which was going on. He saw the moment that her face fell, the glow around her hands dying out. "I'm sorry" She said "What's been done, it's beyond my ability to fix." "It's alright" Aedan's father reached out to touch the girl's shoulder, though the effort clearly cost him.

A boom rocked the castle, and Duncan's second recruit came skidding in. "That'll hold them off for a bit" She said "But if we're going to go, it needs to be now." Duncan repeated his offer; help escaping and a chance to make Howe pay for what he did, in exchange for becoming a Grey Warden. At that moment, with everything he had ever known laying in blood and fire around him and mother insistent that she would remain with father right until the end, it seemed like a good deal to make.

With his agreement, the tunnel was opened and Duncan led them into the darkness, Aedan's parents closing it behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aedan Cousland - Human Noble, 21, Brown hair and Blue eyes, Sword and Shield Warrior, Specialization: Champion, (Templar)
> 
> Killian - Mabari, 5, Red-Brown

**Author's Note:**

> Neria Surana - Elven Mage, 18, long red hair and green eyes, curved build. Magic Schools: Primal and healing spells. Specialization: Spirit Healer (Compassion), Shape Shifter  
> Solana Amell - Human Mage, 20, mid length light blond hair and blue eyes, lithe build. Magic Schools: Creation and Spirit. Specialization: Battle Mage, Force Mage


End file.
